_Adoration of the Magi_

 

Adoration of the Magi

Oil on cradled canvas

4.5' x 6'

February 9 - March 17, 2021

This painting is a reverse take on the Wise Men's visit to the Christ Child during the Nativity. Guided by their inner star, they arrive at the entombment of Christ after his body is deposed from the cross. Instead of gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh, they offer a gold bowl of clean water, an alabaster jar of spices and perfume, and a thurible with lit incense.

The pattern on the side of the sarcophagus is that of ripe, rice stalks, signifying new life that follows death. Like _The Glorious Mysteries: The Resurrection_, with which it will be hung side by side, the work bears the leitmotif of a circle, triangles, and squares. Also as in _The Resurrection_, the figure of Christ was proportioned to eight heads, while the figures of the others were proportioned to seven heads. 

The painting is a study in black on black, but I had to lighten it up considerably because it will hang in the narrow stairwell between the ground and second floors of the library of Maryhill School of Theology (MST). 

Perhaps it should be mentioned here that the preference of MST for the enculturation of theology entails not pulling forward the religious events in the past to the present, but, instead, superimposing the present on the religious events in the past. Given such phenomenological perceptions of time, this is MST's contribution to the celebration of 500 years of Christianity in the Philippines.

The pandemic is still on, and I continue to refuse to admit models and outsiders into our house/my studio area. Angelique sat for Mary, and Jazz sat for Christ. The images of the Wise Men were based on stock shots in the public domain.

The auditory stimulus I used while making this painting is at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9nJspo7yKo. Do listen to it while viewing the work.